A different perspective on global and local issues not the headline news

Lamar Smith on the Warpath

Lamar Smith, Congressman from Texas is in battle with Kathryn Sullivan, NOAA administrator. He is conducting a fishing expedition of unprecedented scope.

At the heart of all this, is the contention that climate change is based on bad science- namely hasty judgments from incomplete data. Sometimes, distinguishing between good and bad science is not easy, because the results do not lead to simple conclusions. But, climate change is not one of these areas. Our planet’s average temperature is going up at an alarming rate. It is no longer conjecture. It is back up by massive data and computer models.

Good science has certain traits. First, all original data that went into calculations are made public to the scientific world. Second, the methodology is so abundantly clear, that the man in China could reproduce the same results. Next. the researchers who do the work should be recognized experts in their area. Also, research must be published in highly respected scientific journals, which allow others to comment on the work.

Technical questions which arise from the work should be answered directly by the scientists involved in the research. Allegations of scientists or supervisors which purposely biases the results for political purposes or to further their professional ambitions should be taken seriously.

All these traits of good science are found in NOAA’s research. Scientists from around the world are finding similar results- our planet’s climate is changing due to emissions caused by fossil fuels consumption. Some islands are at risk of disappearing.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released in June 2015 on their website, the conclusions of a new study showing no slowdown in global warming. It was published online in Science journal.

Lamar Smith, a Congressman from Texas has created a fictional scandal- that scientists manipulated data to hide the fact there is no global warming. It is total nonsense.

There may be some grain of truth to the claim that administrators urged researchers to publish their data as soon as possible. Having worked in a research center, there is generally a point where the data evidence is strong enough to share with the rest of the world and it is a trait of a good administrator, to get valid studies published.

It is surprising the kind of political stunts that Chairman of a House committee can pull, including meetings which excludes the Democrats (a minority on the committee) and issuing subpoenas without notifying the committee. It is a circus. The minority leader finally pushed back.